Recent Articles
The Walkmen live!
The Walkmen Metro, Chicago Friday, September 12, 2008 After critics wrote off their third album, A Hundred Miles Off, The Walkmen returned to the Metro, heads high, on Friday to rearrange the room. Armed with a more immediately rewarding album in You & Me (Gigantic), the New Yorkers alternately teased, punched, and hyper-extended themselves to […]
Hideout Block Party preview
Hideout Block Party Hideout, Chicago September 20-21, 2008 People take Pitchfork Media album reviews very seriously. Very seriously. If today’s indie rockers are modern-day gladiators battling for fame and acclaim in the arena, that Web site wields the power with its 1-through-10 scale to make them heroes or remove their heads. Careers are made out […]
Sian Alice Group preview
Sian Alice Group Empty Bottle, Chicago Sunday, September 21, 2008 American alt-rocker Ryan Adams refuses (or is merely just unable) to self-edit. Just because you wrote 15 songs for a particular album, doesn’t mean the general public needs to hear the lot of them. Save the filler for the box set, please.
Dressy Bessy preview
Dressy Bessy Bottom Lounge, Chicago Monday, September 22, 2008 Being “associated” with the Elephant 6 collective doesn’t carry the same weight it used to. Shit, IE were at a coffee shop in Denver waiting in line for a scone when who turns away from the cash register with a caramel, cream-blended frappuccino? Elephant 6 cofounder […]
Jessica Lea Mayfield reviewed
Jessica Lea Mayfield With Blasphemy So Heartfelt (Polymer) It’s easy to imagine Jessica Lea Mayfield standing at a party and watching a date whom she hates or a boyfriend she’s about to break up with — and penning her debut in her head. Appearing: Tuesday, October 28th at Abbey Pub in Chicago.
The Suicide Kings reviewed
The Suicide Kings The Suicide Kings (Blue Plate) If one thing is made abundantly clear by the cover art of The Suicide Kings’ self-titled album, it’s not for kids.
Damien Dempsey live!
Damien Dempsey Schubas, Chicago Friday, September 5, 2008 Looking like a younger, buffer Larry Mullen Jr., former boxer Damien Demspey brought a slice of the Emerald Isle to Schubas on Friday night to an attentive and participation-ready crowd. Singing with an affected accent missing from most cross-Atlantic artists, Dempsey often touched on themes of country, […]
Ra Ra Riot, Walter Meego preview
Ra Ra Riot, Walter Meego Subterranean, Chicago Thursday, September 11, 2008 For up-and-comers, releasing a kudos-laden EP prior to the debut of a full-length effort amasses a staggering amount of expectation on behalf of the critics who created the hype and the fans that got caught up in it. Sometimes the end result is deemed […]
The Dandy Warhols preview
The Dandy Warhols Vic Theatre, Chicago Friday, September 12, 2008 It’s a truism that when a band think it perfectly normal to lyrically celebrate their drug of choice, self-indulgence is right around the corner.
The Poison Arrows preview
The Poison Arrows Subterranean, Chicago Friday, September 12, 2008 The Poison Arrows include former members of both Don Caballero and Atombombpocketknife among its ranks. So does it sound like either? The easiest answer is . . . sorta.
The Broken West preview
The Broken West Schubas, Chicago Monday, September 15, 2008 For their second Merge Records release, Los Angeles’ The Broken West retain their label’s distinctly indistinct crown.
Paul Weller preview
Paul Weller House Of Blues, Chicago Tuesday, September 16, 2008 God knows if Paul Weller understood his Britishness would inhibit his career so. With his ninth solo album, 22 Dreams (Yep Roc), he rubs it in like he doesn’t give a damn.
Josh Rouse compiled
Josh Rouse The Best Of The Rykodisc Years (Rhino) In an age of iTunes hyper-selectivity and inescapable Essential and 20th Century Masters compilations, the music-buying public has nearly unlimited access to the dark corners of any artist’s career, regardless of record label. But Rykodisc and Rhino have a screwy little game they’d like to play.
Squeeze, Aimee Mann live!
Squeeze, Aimee Mann Ravinia, Highland Park Sunday, August 31, 2008 Given the perpetual solo tours from co-frontmen Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook (along with original pianist Jools Holland and his one-time replacement Paul Carrack), it doesn’t seem like 10 years since the last Squeeze studio CD and road trip. But just because the songs traveled, […]
Setting Sail In A Sea Of Smooth
Yacht Rock Columbia Yacht Club (Monroe Harbor), Chicago Saturday, September 6, 2008 From 1976 to 1984, the radio waves were dominated by really smooth music, also known as yacht rock. These yacht rockers docked a remarkable fleet of number-one hits, and every song has a story behind it.
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